Leg mounted orthopaedic walkers are well known, and typical patents disclosing such walkers include the following:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,771,768 Granted: Sep. 20, 1988 Inventor: Crispin Title: Controlled Motion Ankle Fracture Walker.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,128 Granted: Jan. 7, 1992 Inventor: Grim et al. Title: Removable Leg Walker.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,705 Granted: Jul. 19, 1994 Inventor: Grim et al. Title: Footgear with Pressure Relief Zones.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,5581 Granted: Nov. 29, 1994 Inventor: Zuckerman Title: Ankle Brace Walker.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,464,385 Granted: Nov. 7, 1995 Inventor: Grim Title: Walker with Open Heel.
In order to maximize its effect and provide comfortable wear to the user of the walker, it is desirable that a walker securely and precisely fit the leg of the wearer. While walkers are made to generally conform to the geometry of a leg of a wearer, it is common for the geometry of the leg to change thereby requiring the walker to accommodate a variety of geometries of the leg.
A common feature with many conventional walkers is a pair of struts formed from a high strength material that is used as a frame upon which circumferential straps are secured. A softgood support is also used so as to be wrapped about the leg, foot and ankle, and contained within the struts. The straps are typically secured to the struts via corresponding hook and loop fastening material, and are further accompanied with D-rings to allow for tensioning of the straps relative to the struts.
A frequent problem with these conventional struts is that the edges of the struts are hard and unforgiving against the leg of the patient even with the softgood support surrounds the leg. This leads to undesirable pressure points, a deterioration of the softgood support, and an overall dissatisfaction and discomfort to the patient. As a result, many patients jettison the walkers prior to full healing of the leg, foot or ankle, and thus fail to comply with the walker wear instructions.
Additional shortcomings are readily found in conventional braces such that the struts (1) may not include readily interchangeable long and short struts; (2); they may not readily accommodate different sized lower legs; (3) the mechanisms for securing the struts to the base may be either permanent, or subject to failure; (4) the flexibility of the struts may be substantially linear, and therefore may be too flexible throughout bending cycles to provide adequate orthopaedic support, or may be unduly stiff so as to irritate the user.
In recognizing the need for effective walkers, various walkers have been introduced into the marketplace. Such walkers, however, have generally comprised relatively heavy, bulky apparatuses that fail to provide ventilation and evenly distribute pressure from the walker on the leg of the wearer. Moreover, many contemporary walkers are deficient in that the walkers are constructed in a manner that do not consistently provide or lack adjustment features for forming a firm and secure interface between the leg and knee of the wearer and the walkers. As a result of these drawbacks, many walkers detract from the user's endeavor.
The features of the present invention are provided in recognition of the need for walkers that achieve acceptable function performance characteristics while being comfortable to the wearer when worn. This recognition is realized with the invention described hereinafter.